Streaming media includes magnetic tape, which is a medium for magnetic recording that is made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long narrow strip of plastic film. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape may be referred to as a tape drive, a tape unit, or a streamer. Magnetic tape was a key technology in early computer development, allowing significant amounts of data to be mechanically created, stored for long periods, and to be rapidly accessed. Although other later-developed technologies can perform the functions of magnetic tape, and some of these other technologies are replacing magnetic tape, innovation in the magnetic tape technology continues and magnetic tape is still used.